We had a nice vacation for 5 days on the Carnival Destiny to Turks & Caicos, Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, and Nassau, Bahamas. Nice in that Allison and I got to spend 5 days together seeing new countries in the Carribbean. A few not so great parts, but I'll get to that. The bad certainly didn't take away from how great it was to spend time with the bestie.
We met up in Miami on Sunday night, headed for our hotel, then out to eat at
Trulucks. Trulucks was a favorite restaurant while we were living in Austin, so when I saw it was walking distance from the hotel, I
foodie geeked out persuaded Allison that it would be amazing. And it was!!
Crab Cake Sliders, Hot and Crunchy Shrimp, and Salt and Pepper Calamari
We woke up casually and went and got massages. Then we headed back to the hotel, got all of our things together, and were off for the ship. Seeing as I've done the cruise scene a few times already, I wasn't sure what to expect with embarkation. I've had good experiences where it all moves fast, and also have had hour waits in line to get checked-in. Well, this took the cake on easiest boarding process ever. The whole time I just kept saying to Allison, there's gotta be a line soon, but we strolled onto the boat with not a single person in front or behind us. We put our stuff in our room and then headed up to the pool deck to watch us sail away.
Leaving Miami
We got to watch Monday Night Football on the pool deck. Awful game, but still a fun experience.
The first full day on the ship was entirely at sea. And notice that I don't have many pictures. Thats because we were seasick for the grand majority of that day. I'm not going to point any fingers
at myself, but someone might have upchucked in the dining room entrance.
Needless to say, we tried to sleep the day away between being on the pool deck and being in our beds. We debated and debated about going up to dinner because it was the formal night and finally decided to pull ourselves together and go. Again, this is the only photo we took.
We woke up Wednesday morning to the sun shining and the boat sitting still as we pulled into Turks and Caicos. During all of the seasickness we had contemplated a snorkel adventure while we were there, but it turned out we couldn't have gone anyway as every single water excursion was cancelled because of turbulent waters.
We opted to sit on the beach, soak in some sun, swim in the crystal blue waters, and have a fruity beach drink to cheers being on solid ground.
Beautiful. I want to go back to actually see some of the island.
After reluctantly getting back on the ship, we spent a bit more time at the pool deck relaxing, and had a leisurely afternoon/evening. I was feeling a little bit better but Allison was still feeling awful by the time we were moving towards our next port, so she went to bed and I explored the ship for the night. Went to the comedy club, met a few people, but just wasn't nearly as much fun doing things without my partner in crime. :-)
The next morning, we woke up to Half Moon Cay, which is an island owned by Carnival Cruise line. We set up for a snorkel excursion in the afternoon, so we hung out on the ship for the morning. Both of us again were feeling sick, but more of a "caught a cold or sinus" sickness. When you're sick though on a ship, it all feels like seasickness.
Very tropical.
We both got suited up for the stingrays, but Allison was the only one who got all the way in. I put my feet in the water and I started feeling nauseous again, so I didn't think swimming around breathing through a tube up to my mouth with wild animals swimming around me was such a great idea. I touched one and that was all I wanted. The rest of the time, I was a spectator. Allison didn't last very long either. It was still pretty amazing watching them though.
Never seen a conch before. It was gross!
Crystal Blue water
When we got back on the ship, we went and got medicine to make the queasiness subside. It was helpful and we were able to enjoy the evening on the ship. They had "snow" in the main rotunda. It's hard to see in the photo, but it was pretty.
First dinner that was enjoyable.
After dinner, we went to the piano bar and had a blast. The musician was so talented and was playing James Taylor to Billy Joel to Elton John, to Journey's Don't Stop Believin' (fyi, that was Allison's solo in Low Key). Really really fun!
We woke up to being in port at Nassau. There was nothing planned for the day here so a little shopping and sightseeing was really all that was on the agenda. Allison's aunt had warned her that the port in Nassau was a little shady and dirty, but I still wasn't expecting what we encountered.
After getting through the main port terminal building to get into the city, this is what we saw:
I was in complete shock. This is the main street right in downtown Nassau that EVERY tourist walks on. The cruise didn't tell us anything in advance, so talk about a first impression. Only after we talked to a few locals did they tell us that their Straw Market had caught on fire two weeks ago, and all the wreckage had been moved to the main street for trash collections to come take it away, but it was a slow tedious process.
We walked around a little bit downtown, but in my opinion overall Nassau was a complete bummer. I've heard so many great things about it too, but after walking through the new straw market and Allison grabbing a few souvenirs, we were both ready to be back on the ship.
I will say it did have one of the most amazing sunsets however.
Again, overall it wouldn't be the most amazing vacation that I've had. Had the waters been calmer, I think that entire story would change. Regardless, it was great time for Allison and I to spend with one another and I hope that we do it again soon!
